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Aspen Education Group / Re: Stone Mountain School
« on: August 04, 2009, 05:24:47 PM »
We sent our son to Stone mtn. school in the last six years. The school had a good reputation but had just been purchased by Aspen. I agree it is wrong to nit-pick these places after we have made the decision to let someone else do what we have had such difficulty accomplishing. We were exhausted and at the end of our rope and needed help but I don't think the camp (not a school) is qualified to deal with the troubled youngsters sent to this place. A lot of complicated youths are delt with by untrained personnel, with a one-size-fits-all formula. There was not a single certified psychologist on the campus and so all psychological services were outsourced to psychologist and psychiatrist in Asheville. The reports of the youths behaviors were related by untrained counselors and their treatment plans were carried out by the young counselors on duty in the individual cabins.
The camp has a progressive level system that all are supposed to work on and succeed at or suffer numerous penalties. My son was able to progress up the level system to a certain point but then would make a mistake and have to start at the beginning. THe punishment system ran from having to eat your supper outside in any weater, to hours and hours sitting in an open field. The final payoff of the levels system was a rewards cabin for those who have been totally indoctrinated and accept the programs goals. THis was also the only way out of the school so those who could not concentrate for long enough on the levels (remember these kids mostly had ADD) had to come up with some way on their own to get out.
Enough whining from me on this experience. Most of the counselors were very nice and energetic just young, inexperienced poorly managed and receiving very little training. No one mishandled my child physically and the level system and rewards/punishment were presented to the parents before admission. My child had a year to read a lot of books, learn to get along with fourteen others in a cabin heated by wood they had to cut themselves.
If the camps goals were simply to provide breathing space for the families and outdoor living experiences they would have gotten a good grade but as a place providing psychological support for troubled youths then they are not worth the $5000 a month the place charges.
jsam
The camp has a progressive level system that all are supposed to work on and succeed at or suffer numerous penalties. My son was able to progress up the level system to a certain point but then would make a mistake and have to start at the beginning. THe punishment system ran from having to eat your supper outside in any weater, to hours and hours sitting in an open field. The final payoff of the levels system was a rewards cabin for those who have been totally indoctrinated and accept the programs goals. THis was also the only way out of the school so those who could not concentrate for long enough on the levels (remember these kids mostly had ADD) had to come up with some way on their own to get out.
Enough whining from me on this experience. Most of the counselors were very nice and energetic just young, inexperienced poorly managed and receiving very little training. No one mishandled my child physically and the level system and rewards/punishment were presented to the parents before admission. My child had a year to read a lot of books, learn to get along with fourteen others in a cabin heated by wood they had to cut themselves.
If the camps goals were simply to provide breathing space for the families and outdoor living experiences they would have gotten a good grade but as a place providing psychological support for troubled youths then they are not worth the $5000 a month the place charges.
jsam